Leslie Grayson sentenced to 90 days in child drowning death

Judge: child's death was an accident waiting to happen

A former Cañon City daycare provider was sentenced Friday to serve 90 days in the Fremont County Detention Center in connection with the drowning death of a 4-year-old child in her care Aug. 15.

Leslie Grayson, 52, pleaded guilty in October to one count of felony child abuse resulting in death and one count of misdemeanor child abuse.

Riddick Boling reportedly drowned in an above-ground pool on the property at the 1300 block of South 12th Street in Lincoln Park. Rescuers performed CPR on the child until he was transported by ambulance to St. Thomas More Hospital. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

District Judge Patrick Murphy sentenced Grayson on Friday to serve 90 days in jail to begin by 5 p.m. Monday; three years of probation on one charge and two years of probation for the other, both to run together; and 400 hours of public service. She also is prohibited from operating a daycare while on probation, and she is not allowed to teach swim lessons for children under the age of 18 unless they are accompanied by a parent.

Grayson, who also taught swim lessons as a separate business, told the court before her sentencing that in the 19 years she operated her home daycare in Cañon City, she has cared for hundreds of children.

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"All I ever wanted for them was to be safe and happy," she said. "I've never had serious accidents, injuries or complaints. I really regret that I was not where I needed to be to prevent this accident from happening.

"I am sorry to all the families for the pain of this."

Grayson allegedly was inside her house preparing components for lunch when the other children called for her to help Riddick.

Riddick's grandmother, Seema Garoutte, said the pain of losing Riddick is something the family will bear for the rest of their lives. She showed packed courtroom a photo taken of Riddick the night before he died.

"I realize there are no easy answers," she said, "but no parent or grandparent should have to hold a deceased child in their arms because of the negligence of an adult."

Assistant District Attorney Kathy Eberling asked for a 15-month jail sentence in the case. She said her office could have rejected the plea agreement. Had a jury convicted Grayson, she could have faced a mandatory 16- to 48-year prison sentence for recklessly endangering the child's life and for reckless child abuse resulting in death.

"The District Attorney's office did not seek a prison sentence, we feel it is entirely appropriate for the court to impose 15 months in jail," Eberling said. "(Grayson) put her own economic concerns ahead of the safety of children and for that she should be punished."

Riddick's mother, Nikki Boling, also asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence on Grayson.

"You will hear from the community that she is an upstanding citizen, a sweet and nice person and that she would never hurt anyone," she said. "The fact of the matter is she was entrusted with the safety and well-being of my children."

She said Riddick's identical twin and other two siblings still have several questions about their brother.

"Fifteen months is a small price to pay for what it cost my family," she said.

Murphy said that according to numerous letters he received in support of Grayson, nobody would argue that she is a benefit to society and to Fremont County, however, a child did die while in her care.

"This was not an intentional or knowing act," he said. "It was an accident, but it was an accident waiting to happen."

He said Grayson had more children in her care than her license allowed, and she left them unsupervised in the pool knowing three of them couldn't touch the bottom. Det. Sgt. Jeff Worley testified that no life vests were present at the site of Riddick's drowning and the other children weren't wearing floatation devices.

"This is definitely a horrible event," he said, "but it was an avoidable incident."

Murphy's sentence, he said, was not intended to punish or rehabilitate Grayson, or to protect the community.

"Nothing I will do here today will reach the level of punishment you're going through already," he said.

The sentence, however, is aimed at deterring other adults who may be tempted to leave children unsupervised, for even a brief moment, in the future.

"I would hope that somewhere in the back of their mind they would remember the story of Leslie Grayson," he said.

The Colorado Department of Human Services on Aug. 20 suspended Grayson's daycare license. Grayson said Friday she will not go through legal proceedings to get her license back.

"I closed the business so that nothing like this could ever happen again," she said.

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